[using gcc book] ch3.8 options that control optimization

[Chris Devers <cdevers at pobox dot com>]

The chapter 3, section 8 writeup of the max-inline-insns optimization
option starts with this sentence:

    The tree inliner does decrease the allowable size for single
    functions to be inlined after we already inlined the number of
    instructions given here by repeated inlining.

Scary.

I'd like to rewrite this, possibly as two or three short, clear sentences,
but I'm having a hard time even parsing out the intent here.  I've tried a
couple of variations, but I'm not sure that they do a good job of of
preserving the meaning.

The full paragraph is as follows:

    The tree inliner does decrease the allowable size for single
    functions to be inlined after we already inlined the number of
    instructions given here by repeated inlining.  This number
    should be a factor of two or more larger than the single
    function limit.  Higher numbers result in better runtime
    performance, but incur higher compile-time resource (CPU time,
    memory) requirements and result in larger binaries. Very high
    values are not advisable, as too large binaries may adversely
    affect runtime performance. The default value is 600.

Can someone please take a crack at this, or at least point me in the right
direction to get started on a clarification?  Thank you.



-- 
Chris Devers cdevers@pobox.com
http://devers.homeip.net:8080/

ISO, n. [Origin: possibly Greek iso "equal" but now presumed acronym
  for International Standards Organization.]
A meta-standards organization set up in 1947 in order to establish
standards for the setting up of standard organizations. See also ANSI;
ASCII; STANDARD.

    -- from _The Computer Contradictionary_, Stan Kelly-Bootle, 1995